George Carwardine

George Carwardine didn’t need to invent the Anglepoise lamp to make a name for himself; he was already a practicing engineer of reputation, specialised in vehicle suspension systems. He honed his skills at the Hortsman Car Company where he rose through the ranks to become Chief Designer. Then in 1924, when Hortsmann’s got into financial difficulties, Carwardine left to start his own business, which he called Cardine Accessories. He later went back to work with Sydney Hortsmann but, in 1929, the Horstman car company went bankrupt. Carwardine seized the moment – here was the opportunity he’d been waiting for, to explore a longstanding fascination with spring and lever based mechanisms. He established a garden workshop at his home in Bath and began working on the design that would later become his legacy. George Carwadine died in 1947.